The present invention pertains to a window grille, and in particular to an assembly for securing a grille to a frame assembly.
The appearance of multi-paned windows are preferred by many people over the single-paned style. However, a multi-paned window structure is more expensive to manufacture and more difficult to clean, paint and otherwise maintain. To alleviate these difficulties, grille units have been developed which overlie a single pane and give the appearance of a multi-paned structure. Further, many prior grille units have been releasably secured to the window frame assembly so that cleaning, staining and other operations may be more easily performed. However, while these type of units lower the cost of fabrication and reduce the maintenance requirements, they have experienced mounting problems.
Several ways of releasably attaching the grilles have been designed. The primary alternatives have included: (1) providing fasteners having sharp projections which are forcibly pushed into the window frame; (2) providing fasteners which are fixedly attached to the window frame and secure the grille unit with a snap-fit construction; and (3) providing pins which are inserted into correspondingly drilled holes in the frame. Examples of these structures are disclosed in: U.S. Pat. No. 3,686,814 to Anderson, entitled FALSE WINDOW MUNTIN BAR STRUCTURE; U.S. Pat. No. 4,644,721 to Bloomquist et al., entitled GRILLE FASTENER SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USING THE SAME; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,221,462 to Pomeroy, entitled FASTENER FOR WINDOW STRUCTURES AND THE LIKE HAVING REMOVABLE MULLION UNITS.
These systems, however, have many shortcomings. As can be readily appreciated, the structures relying upon the forceful insertion of a sharpened projection are in reality difficult to install. The problem is even further aggravated if a hardwood is used, and cannot be practically employed in connection with a plastic window frame. The attendant piercing also mars and otherwise detracts from the appearance of the frame. The assemblies utilizing a snap-fit fastener require precise manufacturing to ensure that the grille bars accurately align with the attached fasteners. Further, these grilles are often difficult to grasp and remove from the engaged fasteners. The use of pin-hole arrangements also requires precise manufacturing so that the pins align with the corresponding holes. These constructions further tend to be less secure than other structures, since the pins frequently are not positively held within the holes.